A Self-Proclaimed Dissident Riles Up Canadian Academe

Denis Rancourt, a physics professor who was dismissed in 2009 by the U. of Ottawa, in part for his unorthodox grading: "Socrates did not give grades. My job is to educate."

By Karen Birchard and Jennifer Lewington

Denis Rancourt is a self-described "anarchist" and "dissident,"
an internationally recognized researcher in physics, and a blogger
who writes bluntly about social activism, climate change, and the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But it is the challenge to his dismissal as a tenured professor
at the University of Ottawa—a rare occurrence in Canadian
academe—that has brought him the most recent attention, raising
questions about academic freedom and its limits.